Soccer team, basketball team, football team, drama club, yearbook club, student council, math club, marching band and more. So many sport teams and school clubs available to any student, usually free, but still some students conclude that they don't want to do any activities after school.

Students should have to participate in at least one extracurricular activity because it is beneficial to every aspect of their life.

Extracurricular activities can help improve students' social skills because they have to interact and work with each other outside of school so much that many students will even start to make new friends. If a student is playing a sport it will help him/her get outside and get fresh air after hours of being stuck inside school. Playing a sport will require exercise making the students healthier and therefore happier. Studies show that students that do not engage in any extracurricular activities are known to have a hard time interacting socially with their peers and are sometimes unhealthy because of the lack of exercise.

Extracurricular activities are powerful learning tools because students are learning while having fun. Students on sport teams might learn about teamwork and the positive effect of good sportsmanship while students in drama club might learn about how to project your voice and speak confidently on stage, two very important traits if you want to be a leader. Joining an extracurricular activity may give you new interests and goals in your life. For example, I started my first season of marching band last fall and now it is a very important thing to me and I have made it one of my life goals to march in D.C.I. (Drum Core International): where the best and biggest marching bands in the world compete for title of grand champion.

Many students use homework as an excuse not to participate in after-school activities. But that problem can be easily fixed because there are several clubs and teams that meet once a week or even meet on the weekend. Another excuse is that the price to participate in these activities is too much. But that problem can also be fixed easily because there are several free clubs available to students.

Extracurricular activities should be made mandatory because they help students socially and health wise, are educational and can guide students to new interests and goals, and can be a very small commitment that doesn't interrupt homework. They can do all that while still being very fun and exciting. Schools are offering teams and clubs that are fun, educational, and can be joined without any disadvantage, they deserve to be mandatory.                 